Massive housing project launches

Geoff Egan
Journalist
Geoff has been working for the QT since August 2011 covering Ipswich’s rural areas. He started working for APN in January 2010 with the Chinchilla News in western Queensland after growing up on a grain farm. Geoff spends his time out of work watching far too much sport following the Reds, the Broncos and various American teams.

Popular Stories

Real Estate For Sale

Mayor Pisasale digs in at Ecco Ripley:
Queensland's biggest housing development Ecco Ripley will be home to 50,000 houses and 120,000 people in 15 years.

AFTER more than five years of delays Queensland's biggest housing development is under way.

Ecco Ripley, the new name of the Ripley Valley development, will have 50,000 houses and 120,000 people in the next 15 years.

To be developed by Sekisui House, the largest homebuilder in Japan, Ecco Ripley had the first sod of dirt turned on the site yesterday.

Sekisui House Australia president and managing director Toru Abe said Ecco Ripley was the company's biggest development outside of Japan.

"Ripley Valley is a very exciting development for us as an organisation as it represents a site and scale of development in this country that is almost unheard of," he said.

"At Sekisui House we accept our responsibility to society to create better and more liveable communities. At the heart of every community and development we undertake the desire to build a positive society for future generations."

Mr Abe said the company has built more than 20 million homes in Japan.

Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale said the 194-hectare housing development would provide a new benchmark for sustainable houses.

"This is not about subdividing land, it's about creating a community for all of us," he said.

"I've been to Japan a number of times, I understand with Sekisui House that they want to create a point of difference, sustainability is not just a term but it's an action.

"And what you're going to see here today and in the future are houses that are going to be friendly with the community, friendly with the environment and more importantly understand where we're we need to go as a community and a country."